Tuesday, March 15, 2011

PSB: Guest Post & Giveaway with Sophie Littlefield

Well my lovelies, today is another amazing day! Sophie Littlefield, author of Banished (Oct 2010) & Aftertime (Feb 2011), accepted to talk to us about her recent meeting with *drumrolls* Paranormal Authors. We all know they are out-of-the-box (only for the good reasons indeed!), so let’s see how this faceoff went ^^

I’ve only recently become a part of the community of paranormal fiction writers and readers. It’s been a year and a half since I sat down to write the first sentence of AFTERTIME. In the fifteen years before that, I wrote eight books that were never published, and another five that were. I wrote romance, literary, mystery, and thriller, but never, in that time, did I imagine that someday I would be writing about a post-apocalyptic world populated by zombies – never, in fact, until a character came to me one day demanding to be written, and Cass Dollar’s story was born.

The first time I met a group of paranormal writers, I was nervous. It was a year ago at the Romantic Times convention in Columbus. A scheduling conflict meant that I arrived a couple days after everyone else got there, and my two roommates – romance writer Rachael Herron and paranormal mystery writer Juliet Blackwell – spirited me off to lunch, where I asked them what they thought of this group of people who loved books about vampires and alien races and mythological creatures.

I had my doubts. I’m shy by nature, and it takes me a while to warm up to people. Big noisy gatherings of folks having fun tend to make me want to scuttle to the sidelines. But I trust my friends, so I let them drag me to the next stop, which was…oh hell, I might as well go ahead and admit it – it was a bar. That’s right. Despite the amazing lineup of workshops and panels and speakers, all of which I did eventually attend and enjoy, that afternoon found me in a dim, rather downscale joint at a long wooden table that had been decorated with graffiti and carving added by what appeared to be several decades’ worth of patrons.

Then some magic happened. First – potato chips appeared. An enormous pile of them, nestled on a pile of paper napkins. Chips are the perfect food, in my mind, and I think I could exist happily on an endless supply of salt-and-pepper kettle chips.

Second, Carolyn Crane sat down across from me. Mark Henry to her right. Nicole Peeler to her left. I didn’t know who any of them were at that time, but I’m pretty sure Juliet and Rachael had given them the same ebullient introduction (“You’ll love Sophie! She’s fun!”) and they immediately started talking to me like I was an old friend.

Now, I have loved every writing community I belong to. I’ve been in Romance Writers of America for fifteen years, and MWA and SistersInCrime for more than three, and I’ve made good friends in all of them. But there was something about this new group that was just a little different. It took me the rest of the weekend to put my finger on it (hey, lurking in bars tends to slow down the synapses a little) and when I finally did, it was a wonderful revelation:

The paranormal crowd is truly and deeply come-as-you-are.

That’s right: they accept without judgment. They practically sparkle with curiosity and genuinely celebrate individuality. They embrace the fantastical and the absurd and the dark and the whimsical and the diabolical, and every shade between.

They are also, from what I can see, among the most well-adjusted of writers, a fact that carries with it a certain amount of irony. For a genre that takes its share of lumps from the self-appointed quality-control “experts” (I’m lookin’ at you, academy, and venerable reviewers, and educators) they approach their work with more joy and a more heartfelt desire to challenge and satisfy their readers than some others.

One night in Columbus found me at a…ahem, I don’t really know what to call the gathering. Let’s call it aliterary salon, with an extensive and creative refreshment table, props, and books – scads of books. It was hosted in the suite of several authors, and there were a few editors and agents present, though what a person did for a living didn’t seem to matter much. There were lots of exotic-looking folks – brilliantly-colored hair, piercings, tattoos, gauntlets and leather and mesh and I don’t know what-all.

For my part, I was dressed in a Talbots shift dress and pearls. Which brings me to this point: I felt very other. Too conservative, too old (I could have been the mom of most of the people there), too bland, too unimaginative. I considered turning around and going back to my room – I wasn’t cut out for this, I could just write from the privacy of my home, I’d claim agoraphobia, I’d be the JD Salinger of spec fiction.

But you know what happened next, right? Someone offered me a drink. Someone else asked me to sit close so they could hear me over the din. Two laughing people showed me the creepiest lifesize vinyl zombie baby I have ever seen and asked me if I thought its eyes followed the observer (yes, they did) and suddenly I was swept up in the joy of belonging.

I’m so happy to be a part of this world, and with two more books in the AFTERTIME series coming out in the next year, plus several more paranormal young adult novels under contract, it looks like I’m not going anywhere any time soon. I would like to thank Carolyn and Mark and Nicole and everyone else who took me under their wing, and I promise to pay that kindness forward whenever I can….

…starting now! I’d love to give away a copy of AFTERTIME – and as a bonus, a copy of my first young adult novel, BANISHED.

Well before I move onto the details.. Let’s learn a bit more about both books, shall we? *winks*

Someone once said that all apocalypses are experienced locally. In the case of Cass Dollar, the nightmare occurred with the violent abduction of two-year-old Ruthie, which she vividly remembers. Only later is young Cass assaulted also by the vague, twisting memories of a much wider conflagration that she herself only narrowly survived. A government experiment had turned the entire California landscape into the hunting grounds of zombie Beaters, but Cass can only think of the helpless toddler she is missing. A deeply arresting paperback original. Editor’s recommendation.

There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them. But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions, until a mysterious visitor shows up at Gram’s house, claiming to be Hailey’s aunt Prairie. There are people who will stop at nothing to keep Hailey in Trashtown, living out a legacy of despair and suffering. But when Prairie saves both Hailey and Chub from armed attackers who invade Gram’s house in the middle of the night, Hailey must decide where to place her trust. Will Prairie’s past, and the long-buried secret that caused her to leave Gypsum years earlier, ruin them all? Because as Hailey will soon find out, their power to heal is just the beginning. This gripping novel from thriller writer Sophie Littlefield blazes a trail from small-town Missouri to the big city as Hailey battles an evil greater than she ever imagined, while discovering strengths she never knew she had.

Tynga is a 30 years old mom from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and blogging about them. Make sure to say hi on twitter!

I once met Darren Shan in Foyles. I’d already bought a copy of The Thin Executioner, and was waiting for him to sign it. We stayed for three hours before hand, costing £12 on the parking ticket. I got to the front of the queue and met him. He was really nice, and we posed for a photo (him strangling me). And then the camera died.I’ve also met other authors, through school and when I went to the Carnegie Awards ceremony, such as Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness, Jonathan Stroud and Mary Hooper (twice)!I’d also, one day, like to meet Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark hunters) and Yana Toboso (Black Butler) Love the look of these books!Ninadeathbooksandtea(AT)gmail(DOT)com

I have not yet had the chance to meet and author but of course would love to! How do I only pick one that I would like to meet? I guess if I had to choose I would say Suzzanne Collins, her books are just to good!

I have never met an author before but if I could ever have had a chance, I would have liked to meet J.R.R. Tolkien. He is the author of my favorite books EVER! His imagination was incredible. Beyond any imagination I’ve encountered so far. I would talk to him for days.

Hey!Well, I haven’t been that lucky to meet a favorite author yet – or any author for that matter, me living in Romania and all – but I’d love to meet Kim Harrison (who’s my favorite UF author), Jeaniene Frost or Cassandra Clare. I love their books and I really like them too, they seem so nice and friendly. 😛

This august I met my beloved Andrzej Sapkowski, Alan Campbell and Maja Lidia Kossakowka at Tricon in Czech republic. You know, Tesin, the town, in which thin conventicon happened, is maybe twenty miles from my hometown and it was like MIRACLE for me. Try understand – you love some authors, but you can´t imagine to see them sometimes… and sudenly, they came almost to your home!!! :DDD It was beutiful meeting, really beutiful, and I´m almos crying just remeber it :3

I went to the Breathless Reads tour and got to meet Andrea Cremer, Beth Revis, Brenna Yovanoff, Ally Condie, and Kirsten Miller. It was a GREAT signing! I drove 6 hrs one way to go and I’m so happy I did. 🙂

There’s this really awesome indie bookstore in Houston called Murder by the Book and they do author signings almost daily now. I got to meet Amber Benson and Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs and I think I’ll be going to more singings from now on. It’s awesome!!

I’ve never met an author that I like .. but I’m going to Paris on Friday to attend a book event : there will be Patricia Briggs, Kelley Armstrong; Lauren Oliver … I’m so excited !! The author I’d like meeting the most is Richelle Mead because Vampire Academy is my favorite series ever !! =)

Thanks for this great giveaway Tynga and it’s so nice to make it international !! My email adress is ninie2310@hotmail.fr =) and you can find me on onceuponaquote.blogspot.com !! Bonne lecture et encore merci 😉 !!

I haven’t had the chance to meet any authors, but I would LOVE to!! It’s hard to choose just one, so I’ll give a few: Maggie Stiefvater, Courtney Allison Moulton, Kelley Armstrong, Becca Fitzpatrick. I could go on!!

I haven’t had the chance to meet any authors, but I would LOVE to!! It’s hard to choose just one, so I’ll give a few: Maggie Stiefvater, Courtney Allison Moulton, Kelley Armstrong, Becca Fitzpatrick. I could go on!!

I’ve met Alyssa Day (Alesia Holliday) when she had her first book, Emails to the Front, published. She was doing a tour with Suzanne Brockmann. You could tell she was nervous, but she was lots of fun. I’ve enjoyed her books under both names.

Janet Evanovich did a book signing at a Barnes and Noble near my house once. We had to get there several hours early to get wrist bands and then stand in line for several hours to get our books signed. I wouldn’t do it again.

I used to live in the same building as a thriller writer and he was a monumental a$$. He’s known name, or was 20 years ago, I don’t think he’s published anything in years. He thought he was Hemingway or something.

I got to meet Cassandra Clare and get my books signed by her. We waited in line for hours and seeing her only lasted about a minute but it was such a fun time just being around people who loved her books and reading like I did.Holly Black was there also and I regret not buying White Cat sooner so she could sign that too!

I was lucky enough to meet one of my favorite authors, Kelley Armstrong at a book signing near my house (I think it was a year or two ago). I loved the experience of getting to hear her read from the new book. And I especially loved the Q&A part.

I once met Chris Crutcher. It was probably the highlight of my sophomore year of college. I volunteered to photograph and English teachers’ conference up at Michigan State University, and he was the keynote speaker. He was such a friendly guy! When he first walked in, he jumped in front of the camera and did a silly pose, but the camera regrettably wasn’t on =[Later, I bought one of his books and he signed it for me! Well, I mean, he signed everyone’s, but that’s not the point.

I, unfourtunately, have never met an author even though I have gotten signed books. My friends are always the lucky ones. I would really like to meet James Patterson, because I love ALL his books, and I do mean every single one of them!! I am like obsessed. My favorite series is Maximum Ride and the Alex Cross series. I would really love to meet him, since he is the reason that me and my friends came togehter and realized that we all LOVED to read.capumegard(at)yahoo(dot)fr

I was lucky enough to have RT held in Orlando, and then the next year RWA was moved to Orlando. I got to attend the RT Book Fair and the RWA Literacy signing and I met a whole bunch of fabulous authors, got signed books, signed swag, and pictures-they were awesome. Among the authors I met were Jeaniene Frost, Michelle Rowen, Eloisa James, Jade Lee, Carolyn Jewel, Lori Handeland, Ava Gray (Ann Aguirre), Kelly Gay, Laura Bickle, Keri Arthur, Kelly Armstrong, Jaye Wells, Linnea Sinclair, and Jennifer Ashley, just to name a few.

I’ve met and talked to a CO author in person who doesn’t want me to say who the person is or what she writes. That is because she has a few crazy fans. However it was a fun meeting and I got a special book signed for a cousin for her birthday. 🙂

I was very lucky and was able to go to the Romantic Times Convention when it was in Houston, Texas a few years past. They had hundreds of great Romance authors there, either part of the convention or at the signing. I was in hog heaven. I got to meet Heather Graham and have her sign my books.

I’ve had the chance to meet Catherine Gilbert Murdock a couple years ago and Rick Yancey a year ago. Both were really nice and had interesting stories to tell. I would LOVE to meet JK Rowling and Cassandra Clare.

I’m like you Tynga, I’ve never been to an author signing, I would love to meet Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, they’re gonna be pretty close to me in BC, but I’m in Alberta…plus I have a final that day, so no chance of a road trip happening for me 😛 lolThanks for the chance to win 🙂

I had a great opportunity to spend a couple of days with Karen Marie Moning several years ago when my book club group went to New Orleans. It was great, she was great and I’d love to do that again! Sherrilyn Kenyon has been to my town, but each time, I’ve had other plans. 🙁

I have not had the chance to meet an author to date. I was the supposed to go to Sherrilyn Keynon’s signing in Dallas last year but I broke my foot a couple of days before and couldn’t go. It was extremely disappointing!

I’ve had a chance to meet Kim Harrison, and she is so great in person. Took a few minutes to talk to me, and overall it was an excellent experience. If you are a fan, definitely try to make one of her signings.

Not entering the contest. Just saw a Littlefield giveaway & had to check it out. I had the pleasure of meeting her & JT Ellison a couple of weeks ago. LOVED Aftertime, that is an amazing book by an awesome woman!

I really have quite the list. I wasnt really aware of signings until recently and that anyone could go. Too bad it was after I moved from Chicago, not as many come to where I am now as there. Hoping though to get the chance to start going to some.

I have never been fortunate enough to meet an author but if I could, I’d really love to meet Marina Cohen or Lauren Oliver. I’ve talked to both quite a bit online and would love to meet them in person.

Really been wanting to read Banished so thanks for the chance to win it!

Since I live in a small town in Canada, I have yet to meet a favorite author of mine. I’ve meet many local authors, but not the ones l’d love to meet. I’d love to meet you for one, others I’ve love to meet would be Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Carrie Vaughn, Richelle Mead, Lilith Saintcrow, Kelley Armstrong, Barb Hendee.. I could go on forever!

I was lucky enough to meet a few authors during the Smart Chicks Kick It tour and I have to admit that my favourite was Alyson Noel. She was so sweet and down to earth. I was even tweeting with her prior to her arrival at the event! A close second would be Margaret Stohl. That girl is hilarious!

About 2 years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Richelle Mead when she did her VA tour down under. I went to the After Party to celebrate it’s ending (with my mum, lol) and it was incredible. We had a sneak peak at Spirit Bound (which was not yet released at the time) and even though the event ran overtime Richelle stayed and made sure that EVERY SINGLE PERSON got a signed book and photograph.

She’s the only author i’ve ever met, and my fave, and it was one of the most amazing nights of my life!

I never had that chance, but when I was little I met a tale ilustrator. I have many tales with his drawings and when we met him my mother told with him because I didn’t know who was until he drawed a picture for me!

I haven’t had the chance to meet authors, but I’d love to meet ms.stepahnie meyer..i was number 1 fan of her, i loved all her books especially the twilight saga.!!!…by the way thanks for the international giveaway..=))

I haven’t met and autor yet, I live in a city that is a bordertown with a city in the US but the 2 citys aren that big, so they don’t bring autors here. But I’ll love to met some of the autors of my books.

I have met many authors like Rachel Caine, Patricia Briggs, all the authors that were in the Smart Chicks Kick it Tour-Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Kelley Armstrong, Alyson Noel, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, and Cassandra Clare.

Now Cassandra Clare is my idol and she is super friendly so that was an experience in itself. But I have to say that the most entertaining and funny author I have met thus far is Maggie Stiefvater. She really is too cute!

I met Laura Anne Gilman at a bookstore in Cambridge, MA. Strangely enough, I didn’t even realize there was an author signing that day, I just heard some woman creepily whispering “she’s coming cloooosssseeeerrrrr, soon she will loooook and come ovvvveeeerrrrr.”

When I looked up she was making magic-ish hand motions at me. And talked me into buying one of her books since I clearly liked “snarky women.” Heh.

To my husband and I, meeting authors is tantamount to meeting celebrities for other folks. There is something about meeting that person behind that book/character that is thrilling. Our most exciting, to date, was when we went to our first convention and got to go to an intimate breakfast with Kelley Armstrong. This was fairly early in her career and there were less than 10 people total, including us and Kelley (imagine how many people there would be today). But this gave us the chance to have an incredible conversation with her that truly is one of our favorite experiences.

I’ve never met an author before, though I would love nothing more than to be able to meet several. I’d love to meet Sophie Jordan, Larissa Ione, Jocelynn Drake, Adrian Phoenix, Jennifer Echols, the list could go on and on 🙂